进化系统生物学与反刍动物的进化研究

Evolutionary genotype-phenotype systems biology and study on the ruminant evolution

自达尔文以来,宏观进化和微观进化研究之间一直存在着鸿沟(gap). 20世纪初现代遗传学兴起后,进化研究更多是微观领域的研究,但往往难以解析多姿多彩生物性状进化的遗传基础.比如,反刍动物不仅在科学上有着极为重要的特征性状(如多室胃和角),而且是人类农业文明家畜物种的最重要来源类群,但其进化的遗传基础一直是个谜团.为解决这类问题,我们提出了进化系统生物学(evolutionary genotype-phenotype systems biology,eGPS),旨在利用多层次组学数据,大尺度跨物种阐释动物复杂性状的遗传基础和成因.本文简要介绍了进化生物学的最新进展,并系统综述了有待阐明其遗传进化基础的反刍动物的性状特征,指出eGPS研究有望系统解决这些重要性状特征的进化遗传基础.

There has been a big gap between macroevolution and microevolution studies since Darwin.Despite synthesis between evolution and modern genetics at the beginning of the 20 th century,evolutionary biology has been largely unable to address the genetic bases of endless forms in nature.In this review,we briefly introduce the history,especially the recent advances of integrating macroevolution and microevolution studies.A new direction we have proposed in this field,evolutionary genotype-phenotype systems biology(e GPS),will be able to largely fill the gap.We are planning to use the e GPS approach to address the genetic basis of evolution of ruminants and their unique characteristics,which is introduced in detail in this review.